I recently received email 11,232 asking for campaign contributions, this time from Ilhan Omar, my Congressional Representative.
She Wrote:
from fundraising email dated 7/11/2019 from Ilhan Omar
Earl,
Thank you for joining me in our movement for progress. I want to take this time to tell you a little bit more about myself and why I decided to run for Congress to represent the people of Minnesota’s 5th:
At the age of 8, my family and I fled Somalia’s civil war where we then lived in a refugee camp in Kenya for four years before coming to the United States. In 1997, we settled in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood of Minneapolis.
My interest in politics began at the age of 14 when I was as an interpreter for my grandfather at local Minnesota-DFL caucuses. Watching neighbors come together to advocate for change at the grassroots level made me both appreciate and fall in love with the democratic process. This experience is what sparked my pursuit of working toward justice through progressive politics.
In 2016, I became the first Somali-American, Muslim legislator in the United States. With the help of my committed campaign team, we increased voter turnout by 37% and I was elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives in District 60B.
Then in 2018, I decided to run for U.S. Congress to represent my community and was elected this last November. I am honored and proud to serve Minnesota’s 5th District in Congress —we are a diverse community that believes in peace, respect, and equality for all.
My work in Congress is focused on fighting for progress and working to get real results for the people who elected me. I believe that healthcare is a human right, that we must take bold action now to address the climate crisis. I believe in economic justice, human rights centered foreign policy, and that we must address the institutional racism and misogyny that exists in our country.
I responded to this email as follows:
I appreciate that you wish to represent those who supported you, but you also represent me. And I ask that you take a moment to reflect on that.
You may see yourself as a leader of a cause, but I also want a leader whose grasp includes the entire community you represent. To do otherwise is to resemble Donald Trump who only cares about his base.
What are you doing to reach out to people who are not your base?
I had the privilege to represent a significant portion of your constituency in the ancient past. I tried to reflect not only on those who attended caucuses and helped in my campaigns, but to also keep in mind “Joe/Jill Six pack” as I envisioned them at the time. Folks who didn’t pay attention to politics, who may well have disagreed with me on issues. And even as I was voting against an issue he or she may have taken – I tried to understand why they were opposed and who they were and what could perhaps mitigate their opinion and or situation.
Now some may say that is trying to be all things to all people, but it’s not really. It is being representative of the whole. Now it’s true that I believe it will over time temper your judgement a bit and I think that is just what is needed in today’s politics.
Yes I am a radical moderate, one who seeks not only to advance the common good, but to so so in a manner that brings along the vast majority on issues and not just eke out a narrow electoral victory. That is no better than the Republicans who are asserting their will via sheer power politics on items such as the supreme court appointments, etc.
Staking out the left (or the right) may seem like a strategy to nudge the consensus closer to your point of view, but it misses the true spirit of democratic representation by not focusing on advancing a common vision of America that the vast majority of Americans can not only accept – but champion as part of their self image as Americans.
I encourage you to reconsider your role as a fighter. Yes we need to fight intolerance and social injustice, but let’s consider doing that as a leader. As a healer. As an organizer, as a coalition builder, as a trans formative agent that reaches out across the political divide and becomes a community builder.
We need more community builders, more consensus builders, and a more civil discourse.
I hope to see evidence of that in you in the coming months.
Earl Netwal
Former Minneapolis City Council Member
Former Senate District 62 DFL Chair